{"id":13528,"date":"2016-12-12T11:36:32","date_gmt":"2016-12-12T16:36:32","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=13528"},"modified":"2025-09-25T15:41:21","modified_gmt":"2025-09-25T19:41:21","slug":"twas-the-night-before-christmas-by-bluewindfarm","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/?p=13528","title":{"rendered":"Twas the Night Before Christmas (by BluewindFarm)"},"content":{"rendered":"

Summary:<\/strong>\u00a0 Christmas wishes do come true for the brothers.<\/span><\/p>\n

Rating:\u00a0 K\u00a0 (760 words)<\/span><\/p>\n

Inspired by the December 1st Pinecone Challenge — “Who am I?\u00a0 You sure you want to know?”<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

‘Twas the Night Before Christmas<\/strong><\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWho am I? You sure you want to know?\u201d the man cautiously asked of the small voice belonging to the youngest member of the family as the boy paused on the staircase mid-landing.<\/span><\/p>\n

Shaking his head sideways, recently turned five-year-old Little Joe Cartwright held tight to his tattered blanket with one hand while the other held onto a spindle. His eyes were wide in amazement at the stranger in the great room of his home.<\/span><\/p>\n

*****<\/span><\/p>\n

He\u2019d stolen into the house during the middle of the night; his return unheralded.\u00a0 He paused, inhaling deeply of the scent of pine cones and boughs of evergreens which permeated the room.\u00a0 Taking in the comforting sights of the room, including the small fir-tree decorated with strings of popcorn and cranberries placed to the far side of the staircase.\u00a0 Standing in front of the fireplace, he basked in the warmth from the heat radiating from the stones and the still-glowing embers.<\/span><\/p>\n

Slowly turning, the man\u2019s eyes twinkled above his rosy-red cheeks and bearded face. \u201cI\u2019m known by many names to many people.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The man\u2019s kind voice enticed Joe to hesitantly ask, \u201cAre you…. an outlaw?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cNo.\u201d\u00a0 He rubbed his hands together, a movement\u00a0to warm them.<\/span><\/p>\n

Coming down the last of the steps with his blanket dragging behind, Joe climbed into the chair and made himself comfortable. \u201cWhatcha doin\u2019?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The man, dressed for the cold weather outside, took a few short steps toward the child, placing his hands on his hips. \u201cIt is Christmas Eve, young man, and I believe you should\u00a0be asleep.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI gots woked up.\u201d Cocking his head sideways, Joe asked, \u201cAre you Saint Nicholas?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

The man smiled at the trusting innocence.<\/span><\/p>\n

Interpreting the smile as confirmation, worrying hands twisted the blanket in his lap, \u201cMister Saint Nicholas, am I gettin\u2019 lumps a coal?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Concerned, he knelt in front of the child. \u201cWhy would you think you\u2019re getting lumps of coal?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

With tears threatening to fall, his chin quivering, the boy whispered, \u201cYou didn\u2019t bring my wish.\u201d Little Joe pointed to the small carpet bag on the floor. \u201cSo I must be bad.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

His heart pounding, the man answered, \u201cCome now, a child as precious as you?\u201d He reached forward, tilting up the innocent face.<\/span><\/p>\n

Emotions turned into heaving sobs as Little Joe explained, \u201cMy mama went away. She\u2019s in heaven with the angels, that’s what Adam and Hoss say.\u00a0 And Papa\u2026 Papa went away, too. He\u2019s been gone a long time. They musta not liked me.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

Pulling the child to his chest, the man replied, \u201cOh Joseph, your mother didn\u2019t want to leave you. And your father,” swallowing past the lump in his throat, “he loves you very much.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cCan you make Papa come home? That\u2019s all I wanted for Christmas. Please? I promise ta be good.\u201d Joe\u2019s tears streamed down his face as he slipped the thumb, of the hand that still held the blanket, into his mouth.<\/span><\/p>\n

Words were hard to express. He hadn\u2019t fully given thought to the consequences of his leaving.\u00a0 Sitting there, rocking the boy who eventually returned to the land of slumber, grief stirred once more; he’d left his sons alone to face their grief over Marie’s death.\u00a0 \u201cJoseph, I\u2019m so sorry.\u201d\u00a0 Placing a kiss on unruly brown curls, the sound of footfalls padding at the top of the stairs drew his attention. Above, he saw a set of incredulous brown eyes looking down.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPa?\u201d Adam mouthed, his voice silently pled.<\/span><\/p>\n

Lifting his youngest, he carried the sleeping child up the staircase, pausing as he came face to face with his eldest.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cPa, you came home.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cDon\u2019t you think it\u2019s about time?\u201d Ben asked.<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cYes sir.\u201d Adam reached out to touch him, to confirm that his father truly stood before him, and wasn’t one of the ghosts Charles Dickens wrote about in The Christmas Carol.\u00a0 \u201cI\u2026 We all missed you.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m home, son. And I missed you. And your brothers.\u201d Tears welled in Ben\u2019s eyes.<\/span><\/p>\n

In an uncharacteristic display, Adam unashamedly wrapped his arms around his father and cried.<\/span><\/p>\n

Guilt ate at Ben as he came to realize how much his grief and unexpected departure had affected his sons. He had a lot to make up for, and for so much more to give\u00a0thanks.<\/span><\/p>\n

When his oldest regained his composure, Ben asked, \u201cDo you think your brothers will enjoy receiving their father as a Christmas present?\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cI know I will.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cCome on.\u201d Shifting his youngest into one arm, the boy’s head resting on Ben’s shoulder, he wrapped an arm around Adam and said, \u201cLet\u2019s get this one, and you, back to bed.\u00a0 Christmas morning will be here soon enough.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

\u201cWelcome home, Pa.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

*****End*****<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Wishing everyone a Merry Christmas!<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Tags: Adam Cartwright, APM, Ben Cartwright, Joe \/ Little Joe Cartwright, JPM<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Summary:\u00a0 Christmas wishes do come true for the brothers.<\/p>\n

Rating:\u00a0 K\u00a0 (760 words)<\/p>\n

Inspired by the December 1st Pinecone Challenge — “Who am I?\u00a0 You sure you want to know?”<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":24,"featured_media":3725,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"template-full-width-post.php","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_feature_clip_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2},"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_members_access_role":[],"_members_access_error":""},"categories":[23,30,8,40],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-13528","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-drama","category-prequels","category-short-stories","category-challenges","wpcat-23-id","wpcat-30-id","wpcat-8-id","wpcat-40-id"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/wp-content\/uploads\/2014\/04\/POEMS.jpg?fit=878%2C760&ssl=1","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13528","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/24"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=13528"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/13528\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/3725"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=13528"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=13528"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/bonanzabrand.info\/library\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=13528"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}